February 7, 2013

Comments

Christopher

I would like to point out that a HUGE reason DKexpat's region is doing so well is because of it's proximity to Washington, DC and the obvious economic impact of that. Compare upstate to downstate, NY, and you'll see the areas nearest NYC are doing pretty well. Mixing appales and oranges never works well.

RipleyResident

OK, as much as I hate feed the trolls, HaveANiceDay started the commenting with "Didn't go far enough. Close the school. And while you're at it board up Brocton, Forestville, Clymer, Sherman, and Frewsberg. Once your classes drop below 50 students it should be mandated that the school district be absorbed by a larger neighboring district.", which is nothing but trolling. This isn't even an option under our current legislation. What Ripley did was open up options for our children that they never would have had, and some folks in these forums have done nothing but try to incite, and to belittle those of us who live in Ripley and other small communities. Why don't we just close that state? Maybe we could annex NYC? Let's merge with Pennsylvania? That is about as constructive as some of these comments.

wastelanddweller

Actually, most people in this area have 'troll' lineage. I worked retail in the area... I know. Once they hit about 30 years old, the troll features appear: kyphosis, COPD, Stench of cigarettes and filth, dirty clothes, homemade tattoos...etc etc. Its the hill trolls around here. They are everywhere!

RipleyResident

RipleyResident

Troll - In Internet slang, a troll (pron.: /'tro?l/, /'tr?l/) is someone who posts inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community, such as a forum, chat room, or blog, with the primary intent of provoking readers into an emotional response or of otherwise disrupting normal on-topic discussion.

DKexpat

I just don’t understand the disconnect, both local and in the NYS Legislature.

Taxpayers are takin’ it on the chin, enrollments decline, curricula and sports get cut...but administration just rolls merrily along. And NYS just doesn’t care what happens to the people footin’ the bill?

People should be clamoring to merge school districts, reducing administrative overhead and enriching class offerings for students. Instead, I see piecemeal, stop-gap measures that address the symptoms and not the disease.

Think of farming: Who has it easier, the guy with 40 milkers or the one with 500? The guy with 10 acres of grapes or the one with 200 Welch acres? Economy of scale works on the farm, and it’d also work in consolidating school districts.

The way things are going, you won’t have one-room schoolhouses, but you’re on the way to one-student schools...

stringbean

I think Hava nice day hit the nail on the head. I agree the smaller disticts should be dissolved it will greatly improve the quality of education for the students. This step will make it easier for the board to dissolve the remained of the district in the near future.

Captain

Agree with DKexpat. Personally, I'd rather have neighborhood/local schools, a big factor when deciding where to buy a home. However, the rising costs of school employees and admin positions, coupled with a steady decline in students, have made it extremely difficult, if not impossible, to keep local schools open.

If it costs $28,000 per/yr for each and every student at RCS, what are the residents who voted against past proposals to merge thinking?

DKexpat

Here's a contrast: In my growing county here in VA (with a consolidated school system), we can't build schools fast enough. We add approx. 3,000 new students, usually 3 new schools and hire 300-500 new teachers every year.

Yes, every year, for the past 10 years. (County population has nearly doubled in 10 years.)

But somehow...we get by with just one superintendent of schools for 70,000 students. And one IT department, one payroll department, one purchasing department, one guidance department, one transportation department, etc.

Why the NYS legislature doesn't help rural districts with shrinking enrollment to merge is very disappointing. You folks end up spending more and more per pupil for layer upon layer of administration. (My district's on-time graduation rate is 95.3% and spending in 2012-13 is $11,997/pupil.

RipleyResident

HaveANiceDay

Didn't go far enough. Close the school. And while you're at it board up Brocton, Forestville, Clymer, Sherman, and Frewsberg. Once your classes drop below 50 students it should be mandated that the school district be absorbed by a larger neighboring district.